The Network
by B.Dazzle21
Summary: AU: Karma and Amy mess stuff up at Ms. Raudenfeld's bank. Enter Allison, Lydia, Skye and Jemma who deal with this kind of thing on a regular basis. Not all is what it seems however when a face from Allison's past resurfaces. (Allydia, Karmy, Skimmons)


Some people are driven by a powerful motive. For Allison and Lydia it wasn't just a motive it was a way of helping other people. It was against the law, but it helped people that couldn't help themselves no matter how hard they worked day in and day out.

The plan always started this way, Allison or Lydia would get hired in a bar or a diner. Then after two or three months the boss would gush about how much money they kept in the safe. It sounds pretty normal, but the bosses were actually skimping the employees on their checks. They always ended up getting the combination to the safe by being observant.

After that, they'd use wire funds to transfer the money that was sent to offshore accounts to return back into the employee's bank accounts. It sounds difficult, but Lydia was a master mind at finding phony wiring accounts. She only took enough to make it look like the boss actually used it for vacations or new cars. There were maybe a few instances when one of their many bosses pissed her off and she drained their account completely.

The funny part is that she and Allison didn't get anything from their robberies financially. Sure, they took money, but only to give it back to those that needed it. They had more money than they could handle themselves. It wasn't from stealing or anything, but it was from Allison being a four time Olympic gold medalist in archery and from Lydia winning the Fields medal more than any other mathematician in the past 50 years.

They never got caught because they only stayed at their "jobs" only long enough to learn the staff's name and get out. If anyone did suspect anything it would be hard for the police to conduct another investigation when they have a money launderer standing right in front of them.

They were in small town Arizona when an unknown number contacted them.

"Should I answer it, Lyds?" Allison asked as she started to pack a bag to move on to the next place.

Lydia just zipped up her bag and blew out a sigh. "Yeah, but put it on speaker."

Allison switched it to speaker after accepting the call.

_"__Hello Allison. I assume Lydia is with you. I have a job for you." The mysterious voice spoke from the phone._

"Sorry, but we don't take jobs from unknown callers." Allison replied getting ready to end the call.

_"__That's unfortunate. I thought this would be right up your alley considering it has Robin Hood written all over it. It's what you two do isn't it?"_

Lydia listened closely to the voice. The accent was high pitched and British. Definitely female.

"You sound awfully familiar. There is only one woman that I know with a British accent and that's Jemma Simmons. If you are Jemma then you aren't working alone either. You must be with Skye which is why you knew our names without us giving them to you." Lydia replied.

"_I guess it was only a matter of time. Hello Lydia. It's been awhile." Jemma replied._

_"_It has. How can we help you Jemma?" Lydia asked as she walked towards Allison and sat in her lap getting a bright smile to form on the other girl's lips.

Silence quickly followed.

Lydia was just about to say something when Jemma finally spoke up.

_"__I'm sure you are aware of Raudenfeld bank, located in Seattle Washington." Jemma started._

"Of course. That's only one of the top private banks in the United States." Lydia replied.

_"__For the past year one of their employees has been noticing disappearing accounts. Not a client, but fellow employees. It'll appear shortly after the pay period, but then it will disappear completely before a new pay period begins. When they bring it up to the supervisor, they'll check around for maybe fifteen minutes and it'll be there. As soon as the employee goes to check their balance on their own it disappears again." Jemma explained._

"So, why do you need us? It sounds like you and Skye can crack the case on your own." Allison replied running a hand up Lydia's side.

_"__We need you both for an on the ground mission. It's easy to locate the accounts and repair them, but we physically need to stop whoever is doing this." Skye spoke up._

"Sounds easy enough." Allison replied.

"What's the plan?" Lydia asked.

_"__You'll both take the red eye to Seattle. We'll meet you at the Hilton. Then we can go over further details there." Jemma explained._

"Alright. We'll see you then." Lydia replied before hanging up.

"So, we're getting the band back together. So to speak." Allison said before bringing her lips to Lydia's.

"Yup. This job sounds like some fun. Maybe after this we can take a break. Go on a real vacation." Lydia replied playing with Allison's hair.

"Hmm. That sounds like a great idea. I always wanted to go to Fiji." Allison looked into Lydia's emerald eyes and smiled.

"All in due time my love." Lydia replied kissing the archer again. "Now let's go catch our flight we have a mystery to solve."

Karma was typing her research paper on "Society vs. Personal View", when Amy burst threw her bedroom door.

"Karm, we have a problem." Amy looked distressed and she was hopping from one foot to another.

Karma saved her progress, before turning toward the blonde.

"What problem?" She asked quirking an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

"Remember how we went to the bank with my mom and we thought we renamed people's accounts with funny names as a joke?" Karma nodded. "Well, it turns out those accounts are missing and people at the bank are losing their money. Karma we single handedly robbed my mom's employees. The clients' accounts are okay, but the employee's money is on the fritz. These people work hard and we accidentally stole from them." Amy explained. Her face was as white as a sheet of paper and she looked like she was about to pass out.

"Maybe the money isn't stolen. For all we know it could be hiding in plain sight and no one thought to look. How about we stop by there tomorrow to check for ourselves?" Karma replied before hooking her arms around Amy's neck.

"That sounds like a good idea." Amy replied before brushing her lips against Karma's.

"We have a reservation for two under Judy." Lydia told the concierge.

The man typed in the name and smiled. "Oh, yes. I believe you have the penthouse suite. You are in room 1506." He replied giving Lydia two room keys. "Thank you for staying with us and please let us know if you need anything."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." Lydia replied before taking Allison's hand and leading her to the elevator.

"So, Miss Judy, you gotta last name?" Allison flirted as the elevator doors closed.

"Nope, just Judy. I thought it would come off more high class if I only used a first name." She worked small circles into the other girl's hand as the elevator moved from floor to floor.

"That was very smart of you." Allison replied before kissing her cheek.

The elevator stopped on their floor. The loud dinging drew them from their haze.

"Hello old friend. I hope you don't mind, but we took the liberty of reserving the room next to yours." Jemma explained as she gave both Lydia and Allison a smile.

"I don't mind at all. Where's Skye?" Lydia asked as she gave Jemma a hug.

"She should be out right about now." The other girl replied when she heard a squeak, a few footsteps and the door flying open.

"Impressive." Allison replied as she looked Skye over. She let a giggle out as she took in the other girl's soaked appearance.

Skye looked like a soaked puppy. "You keep laughing now Argent. I bet if you were in this situation you wouldn't be laughing now would ya?" Skye asked jokingly and she jumped on the other girl giving her a soaked hug.

"As much fun as it is to see the two of you grapple like school children, I believe we have a case to solve." Jemma stated as she waited for Lydia to unlock their door.

Skye jumped off of Allison at that. She stuck her hand out for the other girl to take.

"Let's go to work, shall we?" Allison asked as she walked passed Skye.

The other brunette smiled. "Just like old times."

Skye brought her lap top to show the two other girls what was physically happening to the accounts at Raudenfeld bank.

"See. They keep popping in and out like a bug inside of a code, except the code renamed itself." She pointed at a few accounts that would say "Dipshit" "Professor Longbottom" and even "Fuck face". Then they'd turn into a six digit series of numbers and switch places from around the screen.

"Interesting." Allison replied. She had to look away from the screen because the floating numbers were giving her a headache.

"So, it's like a bug is inside the system?" Lydia asked.

"Kind of, except the bug switches the account balance of one account to another. Sort of like a puzzle. Whoever did this, doesn't want these employees to get into their accounts." Skye explained.

"This is where you two come in. The bank is hiring two new security guards and I slipped your guys' information to the top of the hiring pile. So, you should be hired within the next few days. After that you'll have access to all floors. Then you can probably catch who is behind this." Jemma explained.

"So, we get the security jobs, roam the floors, check over a few computer databases and then find the person creating the bug. That sounds too easy. What else do we have to do?" Allison asked.

Skye let out a sigh. "You have to restore the original amount of money that was in that account. You both also have to give the original account names back."

The room was stone silent.

Lydia stretched before replying. "So, how many employees' accounts were compromised?"

Jemma's body went rigid. "All of them. So, over 150 people."

Allison stood up. "Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me! We can restore accounts for maybe 50 people at the most. We've never had to restore 150 different accounts." She ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"Allison is right. There's a reason why we only stick with small town cases. It's harder for us to get caught. Plus in most of those cases it was always the boss. I doubt Mrs. Raudenfeld is stealing anything from her employees." Lydia replied wrapping her hand around Allison's waist trying to get the other girl to relax and sit down.

Skye let out a tired yawn. "It's not Mrs. Raudenfeld, but I did trace something back on her computer and found something from the feed from the banks security cameras." She reached over to grab her laptop and typed in a few keys before two screens came up. "Take a look. I think you might find this interesting."

The camera shows two teenage girl's one blonde and one brunette enter an intern's office. The office camera then pans to the right where the pair are on the computer are giggling as they each type something on the computer.

Allison's moves away from the screen. "You mean to tell me that a couple of teenagers did this?" She catches both Skye's and Jemma's eyes.

"Not quite. Honey, look at this." Lydia says pointing at the screen.

The girls leave the office still laughing. Down the hallway a woman with dirty blonde hair walks past the girls and enters the same office.

"Who the hell is this now?" Allison asks frustrated.

"We have no idea. I tried to run face recognition software and came up with nothing. It has to be an employee there or at least someone that had security clearance to get inside the office side of the bank." Jemma replied.

"What about the girls? How did they get in?" Lydia asked.

"Those two were much easier to find. The brunette is Karma Ashcroft and the blonde is Amy Raudenfeld." Skye explained.

"I think I just thought of an easier way to go about this." Allison started, every head in the room turned toward her. "Well the office belonged to an intern, right? So whoever walked into the office after the girl's was either an intern or they know who the intern is. I think one of us should go undercover as an intern and the other a security guard. That way when we find whose office this is, we can find them ask them a couple of questions, have them restore the accounts, ask them politely to leave and then disappear like nothing happened." Allison explained.

"By politely you mean-" Skye starts.

"Kick a little ass." Lydia finishes.

Jemma raises a hand. "I hate to be the one to rain on everyone's parade, but there are no opening spots for interns."

Allison's face drops. Lydia starts to rub the tension in the brunette's shoulders and Skye starts to type furiously.

"Done and done. All I had to do was switch out an intern to fit Lydia's profile. Don't worry. Samantha Ridge has just been given an internship with Tate industries. They're a design firm and I think they are more up her alley than Raudenfeld bank." Skye said cracking her knuckles.

"So, what do we do about the girls?" Lydia asked. "Whoever went in after them had to have known who they are and what they were up to."

"Well, Jemma and I will be doing surveillance just outside the bank. We'll be there in case anything goes wrong. We can watch the girls from the inside and outside, but our inside man so to speak will be Allison. She can track the girls easily inside, while Lydia tracks whoever is behind all of this." Skye explains.

The group went over the plan five more times before they called it a night.

Skye held Jemma's hand as they entered their suite. She put her laptop on the living room table before joining Jemma on the couch.

Jemma opened up her arms as Skye went to lie down next to her and wrapped her arms around the brunette.

"It's been awhile since we had to do undercover work." Jemma said as she drew circles over Skye's hip. They've mostly done small cases with zero paper trail, so they didn't have to masquerade as no one, but themselves. They mostly worked in finding stolen items that were taken from people either by burglary or moving services that stole everything. They pissed the police off, but their clients were always happy.

"Yeah, so I was thinking construction workers." Skye replied playing with one of Jemma's hands.

"You would look very fit in a hard hat." Jemma replied smiling at the thought.

"Maybe I could keep the get up for special occasions." Skye said turning in Jemma's arms to look into her hazel eyes.

"Really?" Jemma asks looking at the brunette lasciviously.

"Yeah." Skye replies looking down at the strawberry blonde's lips.

Jemma smiles before she brings their lips together in a soft embrace.

When the kiss breaks, Skye untangles herself from Jemma's arms and gets to her feet.

"How about we get well acquainted with our room?" She asks holding her hand out for Jemma to take. Jemma accepts and grabs Skye's laptop, so it will be in safe hands. "Good looking out, babe."

Jemma smiles. "Well, I have to protect my precious cargo." She replies kissing Skye's hand.

"You are such a dork, but I love you."

"I love you too."

"Now, let's go to bed."

"Let's."

Amy woke up to the sounds of Karma typing furiously on her computer. She let out an irritated groan at the noise.

"Why are you awake so early?" The blonde asked with her eyes still closed.

Karma stopped typing. "I couldn't really sleep and I had to finish this paper, if we were going to enjoy the rest of our weekend, after we go to the bank today." Her guilty conscious was weighing on her and it was showing in her paper. She revamped it and was almost finished; she just needed three hundred more words.

Amy wrapped her arms around a pillow and stretched. "Please come back to bed. I miss you." Amy replied looking at the clock to see the blue numbers read 8:25 a.m..

Karma gave the other girl a smile. "I promise I will come back to bed after I finish this paper. I just need three hundred more words, and then we can get our cuddle on."

Amy knew the real reason why Karma was so hell bent on finishing her paper. The brunette like herself carried a guilty conscious about what they did. Speaking of…"Hey Karm?" She asks getting a "hm" in reply. "I don't think we could've messed up all of those people's accounts." Amy stated. She watched as Karma physically deflated and finished her last sentence before pressing save and shutting down her computer.

The brunette got up from the chair and climbed into her bed next to the blonde. "Why not?" She asked tucking a stray strand of hair behind Amy's ear.

The other girl blinked before replying. "Because all we did was change the names. I don't know anything about coding, so there is no possible way that we made people's money vanish into thin air."

Karma looked into Amy's green eyes. "Do you think someone went in there after us and changed everything else?"

Amy brought her hand to run across Karma's hip. "I think so. I mean, I don't remember us closing the program down, so it's possible. I think when we go there today we can check the security feed."

Karma placed a kiss on Amy's lips. "That sounds like a plan. It might take us a while because that was like two weeks ago, but I think we can find it."

Lydia was sat in Gregg Warner's office waiting to be interviewed. She looked at her cuticles already tired of waiting for the young man to get in the office.

_"__Don't frown Lyds, someone can be falling in love with your smile." Allison said from the ear piece._

"Sorry, sweet cheeks, but this guy is taking forever and my patience is growing thin." Lydia replied.

_"__I think you only have to wait two more seconds. He's on his way upstairs now." Skye replied._

_"__Good luck, Lyds. Not that you need it." Allison said._

"Thanks, babe." Lydia replied before the door opened.

A young man that was 6'4" with brown hair and blue eyes smiled at Lydia.

"Aw, you must be Lydia. My name is Gregg." He greeted sticking his hand out for her to shake. She smiled back and shook his hand. "I'm head of the intern program here at Raudenfeld bank. You must have thought this was a joke, but I assure you that for an accounting major like yourself this is right up your alley. Here at Raudenfeld we work with some the nation's top leading one percent and we also offer accounting services to insure that our clients get the best of what they need." Gregg finished his spiel as he made himself comfortable in his chair.

Lydia tried her best to look interested and offered a polite smile. "This does sound right up my alley. I just hope that I can keep up, what with the intern program already starting." She feigned sounding worried.

Gregg looked through scattered papers in front of him. "Well, with someone that has impressive credentials such as these, I am sure that you'll do just fine. We would like to offer you the spot if you'd like it. We are an internship that pays, but I hope you pick us for more than just money." He explained.

Lydia made a show of jumping in her seat. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much. I would love to be a part of the team!" She finished clapping.

Gregg gave her an encouraging smile before giving her a card that was attached to her lanyard. "This will give you access to most of the accounting floors and of course the intern floor. Please mind the card since it is also your clock in and clock out card." He explained.

Lydia looked over the card and noted the bar code on the back. "This is awesome! So, when do I start?" She asked.

Gregg stood up excitedly. "Well normally our interns start on Mondays, but given your enthusiasm I think it'd be okay for you to shadow a few people today." He replied opening the door to lead Lydia out of the office.

_"__Nice job Lyds." Allison said in her ear._

Allison was just putting on her security badge when Skye motioned for her to look at the monitor. Karma and Amy were just entering the bank.

"Are you sure that I just walk in there? I didn't even have an interview. All I got was a phone call." Allison asked looking from Jemma to Skye.

"Raudenfeld bank is highly progressive. They trust their security 100% and give the most note-able candidates a phone call and a uniform. They just ask them to start as soon as possible." Jemma explained as she placed an ear piece in Allison's right ear. "Oh, you might also need this." She held up what appeared to be a usb.

Allison cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What's that for?" She asked.

Skye smiled as Jemma took in a deep breath before explaining. "When you get inside, you'll be issued a security badge that will let you onto all of the floors. The badge works wonders for our plan and establishes an easier alibi in case we get caught. Anyway, Skye and I came up with a small tactic to scare the person that made the exploit. Once everyone is seemingly done for the day, you go into the interns office plug the usb into the computer and unload -what Skye dubbed- the piggy backer onto the computer."

Allison nodded her head in understanding and motioned for the biochemist to continue.

Jemma smiled. "The piggy backer will act as our eyes and ears from Skye's computer. Then here's the kicker. We start to slowly decrypt the accounts one by one and encrypt them with new coding, so they can no longer be tampered with."

The brunette let a smirk work its way onto her face. "So we scare them enough to get them suspicious that someone is on their six. Then we come in before they flee and find out who they are." Jemma and Skye both nod at Allison's deduction. "So what we are basically doing is cornering the suspect. I like it. Does Lydia know about this?" She asks the duo.

Jemma's face falls slightly. "Well, we didn't have time to tell her. Perhaps we can all do it tonight after you unload the program onto the intern's computer." She suggested trying not to kick herself mentally.

"I'm sure everything will go just fine Jem." Skye said comfortingly as she started to massage the visible tension from the other woman's shoulders.

Allison gave the duo a tip of her hat before leaving the van.

Karma and Amy just entered the security room, when the door opened behind them.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I thought it'd be easier for me to start off in here. It's my first day." Allison greeted awkwardly.

Both the girls gave the woman a kind smile.

"That's alright. The job shouldn't be too bad. My mom owns the bank. We were actually here to see if we could look over the security footage from about two weeks ago." Amy said as started to dig the toe of her boot into the floor.

Allison looked the two girls over like a statue before smiling.

"It's been awhile since I've used one of these, but I think I can help you." She explained as she sat down and started going over the security files on the computer from the past two weeks.

They sifted through quite a lot of footage before finding what they were looking for.

"There. Can you rewind it a little bit and then play it?" Karma asked.

"Sure." Allison replied as she ran the footage back a few seconds and pressed the play button.

They watched as Karma and Amy went down the hallway toward the elevators. The pair seemed to have passed by a tall woman with dirty blonde hair, but paid her zero attention during their laughing fit.

"Who is that?" Allison asked curiously.

Amy's mouth was still agape for a moment. Then she closed her mouth and swallowed the dry lump in her throat.

"I-uh-I have no idea. Can you zoom in on the face to see?" She asked pushing her chair closer to the three monitors.

"Yeah." Allison replied while scrolling the mouse along the unknown woman's face.

The picture was pixelated for about a minute. Once it fleshed completely out, Allison was the one to gasp.

On the screen was none other than Allison's Aunt Kate, who was a hedge fund manager for Argent International. It's been years since she last saw Kate and it flummoxed her to see her roaming the halls of Raudenfeld bank.

Karma gave Allison an inquisitive look. "Do you know that woman?"

Allison finally found oxygen and replied. "No, she just looks like someone I knew. Did you get the stuff that you needed?" She asked the pair hoping her face would gain color soon.

Amy stared at the picture on the screen and then the security guard. "Yeah, I think we figured it out. Thanks…"

"Allison." She replied.

Amy stood up and motioned for Karma to do the same.

"See you around." The brunette said kindly before the girls left the room.

Allison quickly tapped into her in ear piece, willing her heart to slow and remain calm.

"Jemma, Skye. I think I know who's behind all of this."

_"__Should we rendezvous during lunch?" Jemma's voice sounded over Allison's com._

"That would be a wonderful idea. I think I saw a diner around the corner from the van." Allison replied searching for Lydia on the monitors. She smiled when she saw the redhead explaining something to a clueless intern.

They ordered food a while ago. Allison still found it difficult to explain the Aunt Kate situation.

Lydia tried her best to relieve the obvious chip that was on the brunette's shoulders by rubbing circles into her hand comfortingly.

Skye sipped on her chocolate milkshake and watched the news on the monitor behind the young couple.

Simmons tapped on the table trying to think of a nice way of telling Allison to spit whatever Intel she gathered out.

"My Aunt Kate used to be a hedge fund manager in Boston before she went missing." Allison's voice was visibly watery, but she continued. "My family and I searched everywhere for her. When our search for her came up empty, my grandfather declared her dead. It was hard to say the least. Burying an empty coffin rubbed me the wrong way. I think that's one of the reasons why I decided to get into this business, besides accomplishing the greater good with Lyds of course. Seeing her on that tape made me believe that all of what we've been through was meant to lead us here." She tapped the table.

Lydia turned to Allison wide eyed. "Our last job." She finished. A part of Lydia was joyous at the news. They had enough money stored away to last many life times. The other half of her didn't want to abandon the people they have yet to help.

Skye noticed the ever growing tension in the booth; she decided to turn everyone's attention elsewhere.

"If Kate was presumed dead, where did she go?" She asks looking around the table. A light bulb seemed to go off in her mind. She whipped her laptop out and started typing furiously.

Jemma peaked over at the screen and sat up impossibly straight.

"Great Scott, the pot just keeps getting stirred." She commented.

Skye was flexing one hand. It was a nervous quirk that occurred whenever she did research and found important information that could change the foundations of a mission. Jemma caught on to the quirk a long time ago. She put one of her hands over Skye's flexing hand and smiled when the other woman seemed to calm.

Lydia looked on at the pair wanting to know what they found, but also entranced by their in sync behavior.

Allison caught on to a quirk that Lydia had as well. The ginger was impatient when it came to impending news, she would either shake her leg or mentally do math in her head, her tell would be looking up at the sky and mouthing numbers to herself. The latter was the one that she was doing, so Allison moved her around the smaller girl's waist and kissed her cheek.

"It's okay, Lyds. They're just double checking their intel. They'll let us know when they are done." Allison whispered in Lydia's ear. The brunette's voice always had a calming effect on her and she physical relaxed knowing that it had to be harder for her girlfriend than it was for her.

Lydia turned to Allison. "How are you so calm?"

Allison looked into Lydia's green eyes with a smile on her face. "Because I know that whatever they find, it won't change how I feel about us getting out. After we nab whoever is behind this, we can live the life that we always wanted. You know, living on the beach, making love in satin sheets as the sunsets just outside our window, visiting the Eiffel Tower and falling in love all over again at the Louvre."

Lydia loved the idea, she really did. "I want to do all of those things, baby I do, but what about everyone else? What about the others that need help?" She didn't want to dampen Allison's dream, but she had to know.

Allison pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "They will get assistance Lyds. Just because we are getting out doesn't mean that the network stops thriving." She answered casually.

The ginger perked up at that. "The network? What network?"

Skye looked at the pair from over her laptop. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but we decided to call ourselves "The White Hats". We were called "The Rising Tide" before, but decided to change our name due to us doing the work of the greater good, instead of just hacking into websites like we did when we were teenagers." She explained before looking at her screen once more.

Lydia let an impressed smile cross her face. "You thought of everything."

Allison returned the smile. "Of course, just because the queen and her knight leave the kingdom, doesn't mean that the royal court disbands while they are gone watching idly as the kingdom is thrust into chaos." She replies before placing a kiss on Lydia's full lips.

"So, you're my knight? I like that." Lydia says placing another kiss on the girl's lips.

"Hey, Allison right? Once again we'd like to thank you for earlier." Karma explained gesturing between Amy and herself.

Skye quickly turned her computer and pulled her YouTube tab up.

Jemma was all smiles as she looked at the younger couple.

"Oh, Allison I had no idea you made friends today." She said looking into the other woman's which would've probably melted if she had heat ray vision.

"Sorry, Jem. I didn't quite get to that part yet." Allison replied making sure to say the other girl's nickname as rigid as possible.

Amy picked up on the weird vibe going on at the table and pulled on Karma's arm. "It was nice to see you again. I think mom is in safe hands now that you are working security. We'll see you later. Come on Karm, we have to get back to meet my mom."

The group waved bye, then turned back to one another in the group.

"That was awkward." Lydia threw out into the now relaxing air.

"It was, but I don't think they noticed anything." Allison replied.

Jemma looked at her again as did Skye. "Are you sure? It looked like Amy, the blonde one, picked up on something which is why she re-directed her chatty girlfriend to go meet her mother." She explained.

Allison's face scrunched up. "Even if they did pick up on something, they wouldn't tell. They had me looking through video files, so I think that makes us even now."

Lydia chimed in. "Yeah, I doubt our cover is blown. If anything they think we are on a double date or something. So, chill. What did you guys find out anyway?"

Skye pulled her original tab back up. "Nothing about what happened to her after Boston. It was like you said, she just disappeared. Kate is now a hedge fund manager for Cooper International. Her name comes up in articles and stuff pertaining to the company; however no one has seen her face which is why no one noticed her on the security tapes at Raudenfeld. She also goes by the name Kate Cooper, which is probably why she's never pinged on any searches. Going back a few years with Cooper International, they had a huge upward slope financially, but started to decline as soon as Raudenfeld got more media attention." She started. "Later last year Cooper started to loose funds and private investors pulled out. They soon started to send their business in the direction of Raudenfeld. Kate started grasping for straws as others started to leave as well, even interns started to look for new jobs in Raudenfeld seeing as they actually pay instead of just looking good on a resume." Skye finished.

Allison started to connect the dots as did Lydia. "The employees whose accounts are being tampered with used to work for Cooper."

"Exactly, we figure that if the employee's financial security was compromised, Kate would find a sudden increase in people asking for their jobs back at Cooper. Plus it would send investors getting out of Raudenfeld and running to Cooper as a saving grace. Considering, they are "safe" and have taken care of them before Raudenfeld became a big name. We literally stumbled upon a white collard ball game. It seems like your Aunt Kate Allison is the only person that knows how to play it." Jemma finished explaining.

The young brunette was livid. The Aunt Kate that she knew was always kind and managed to take the high road. This woman that was playing a dirty game of cat and mouse was not her.

"We have to stop her before any of the employees pull out of Raudenfeld. We have to take Kate down." Allison replied.

"I'm with Allison we have to catch the bitch before the situation gets any worse. She's already ahead of Raudenfeld by literally taking them down from inside. We have to take her down before she can seize the opportunity and get out." Lydia explained. Her face was hardened, but she still managed to calm Allison.

"Lunch is almost over. Remember Allison, our goal today is to get the piggy backer on to Kate's computer. Then Lydia can corner her and we will be there when she tries to run." Jemma explained going over the new plan.

"Why can't I deliver the piggy backer?" Lydia asked.

"Because you have to distract the other interns, so I can get in the office." Allison answers getting up from her seat.

"I'll see what I can do." Lydia replies giving Allison a kiss on the lips.

"We'll see you later tonight. Keep your coms on. We'll be just a wee bit away if you need us." Jemma says before the pair leaves.

"Do you think we are fit to take the reins when Allison and Lydia leave?" Skye asks putting money on the table and shutting down her laptop.

"I think we are the best candidates, love. We were with them when they started this. It's only fair that we continue once they retire." Jemma replies taking the other girl's hand as they exit the diner.

"You mean to tell me that none of you have ever heard of coding a client's bank account?!" Lydia yelled to the interns as they re-grouped after lunch in the conference room.

_"__I've got eyes on Kate, Lydia. Stay with the theatrics. I think you got em' for a while." Skye said in Lydia's ear._

Lydia got up briskly and made a lap of the table.

"I'm sorry, but which colleges did you all attend? No offence to them, but they taught you jack shit." The ginger continued in a clipped voice.

Gregg started to stand, but Lydia raised a hand in his direction stopping his efforts.

"It's okay, Gregg. I'm calm now. I just get a little excited whenever I mention this to those that don't know." She took a pregnant pause to get the room back on her side. "Now, where were we?" She asked.

"You were discussing coding the client's accounts." A dark skinned intern explained. Lydia remembered her name being Harley.

_"__The floor is clear." Jemma reassured Allison._

The elevator doors just opened, signaling that she had reached the turning point in this mission. After she released the piggy backer, they would be closer to catching Kate.

_"__The office is coming up just on your left." Jemma directed the younger girl._

Allison saw which office. She gulped, swiped the security card under the handle of the door and released a shaky breathe in relief. She quickly went inside and locked the door behind her,

_"__Okay, now just plug the USB in and let the program do its job."_

"How long does it take?" She asked as she plugged the USB onto the computer.

_"__Just a few minutes."_

Allison tensed. "A few minutes? Do we even have that much time?"

_Jemma looked up from the monitors to take a peek at how Lydia was doing. Lydia had the whole room's attention. She noticed a nervous Kate drumming her fingers on the table._

_"__Yes, we have that and much more. If anything goes wrong or if anyone comes towards the office you'll hear the signal." Jemma explained over the com._

Allison accepted the file download on the computer and waited patiently for it to be completed. When it was finally completed a soft ding was heard from the monitor.

_"__Alright, Allison unplug the USB and get the hell out of there." _

"Will do, captain." She replied unplugging the USB and turning the computer back to sleep mode.

"The interns are leaving the conference room. How are we doing with the piggy backer?" Skye asked from behind her monitor to look at Jemma's relaxed form.

"It has been released, love. All we have to do now is wait." She replied moving to stand behind Skye rubbing the tension from the other woman's shoulders.

Skye let out a quiet yawn and glanced at the time on the computer.

"Is it already 4:30 p.m.? Where did the day go?" She asked.

It's been a long day for everyone involved. Skye wanted nothing more than to curl up with Jemma in their hotel room and sleep.

Jemma could see Skye's exhaustion sneaking on her features. She felt tired as well, but opted that it'd be a better idea to stay awake, until Allison and Lydia get back.

In the meantime, she figured, she'd keep Skye awake in a fun way. She turned toward the brunette and kicked one leg over her lap, so she was straddling the hacker.

"And what did I do to deserve this?" Skye joked as she ran her hands up and down Jemma's sides.

The redhead smiled. "You just being you. Plus, you looked smashing in that construction outfit." She replied before placing her lips on Skye's.

The brunette felt herself wake up a bit. She thought if this was how today was going to end it would be a hell of a way to end it.

Lydia was just about to leave the intern floor to clock out, when she smacked right into an unforeseen force. She reeled back and thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't on the ground flat on her back in both agony and embarrassment.

The ginger blinked a few times to correct her now blurry vision. A clipped smile made its way on to her face as she recognized the blockade as Kate Argent, now known as Kate Cooper.

It was odd for Lydia to see her in person. She'd only caught glimpses of her from old pictures that Allison kept around. The woman in the photos seemed more fun and loving. This woman standing in front of her looked sophisticated and hardened.

"Sorry about that. I should probably watch where I'm going." Kate replied fixing her now disheveled skirt.

Lydia waved at the air in mock offence. "Oh, please I was in such a hurry to get out of here, I didn't look to see if anyone was coming my way. Anyway, my name is Lydia and you are?"

It was small, but Lydia noticed it. Kate squirmed and was stunted like she actually forgot that she had an alias for this job.

"My name is Carol Munn. I just started here about five months ago. It was tough, but I caught on quickly. You should have no problem with your quick wit and ability to crunch numbers." Kate finished smiling. She caught the visible blush working on the younger woman's face and smiled encouragingly.

Lydia felt mildly uncomfortable. Here she was looking into the eyes of the guilty and yet she felt scared to be alone with her. She felt glued to the carpeted floor.

Hearing the elevator ding jarred Lydia from her stupor.

"Hey, Lyds-" Allison started. She stopped when she saw the redhead looking at her wide-eyed. A tall blonde woman was facing the shorter woman with her back turned away from the brunette.

In a blink of an eye the blonde woman turned around.

Allison's heart was beating out of control. No, she wasn't supposed to be here yet. This happened all too fast. Dammit. Why did she think it would be a good idea to walk Lydia out of the building after she was done for the day? Oh yeah, because no one else was supposed to be here.

Kate's face scrunched up in recognition. "Alli. Allison is that you?" She asked not caring that she was breaking her cover to greet her niece.

Allison tried to calm herself. She took the cold approach. "Yes, my name is Allison. Lydia, who's your new friend?"

Kate's face fell at the question. "I'm sorry; you just look like my niece." She apologized.

Allison swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "It's okay. You look like my aunt, but that's impossible. She passed away a few years ago."

Lydia looked from one woman to the other. She could tell that Kate recognized Allison, but was making no attempt at asking any further questions. She bought their cover. Allison on the other hand was purposefully saying hurtful things to Kate. She was not only upset for what the older woman was doing now, but for what happened all of those years ago. She decided to end this before her girlfriend's ego got the best of her and she ruined this mission.

"I'll try to watch where I'm going next time. See you Monday, Kate." Lydia said breaking the other two women out of their silent conversation. She gave a parting wave as she dragged Allison toward the elevator.

Kate watched them a sad smile working its way on her lips. She made her choice a long time ago. Now, she wonders if she made the right one.

No one talked on the ride home from the bank.

Allison was deep in thought. It hurt her to see Kate in the flesh after so many years. It was weird because the Kate that they are after is the selfish white collard criminal Kate, not the warm maternal Kate that she just saw. Her feelings didn't matter. For the mission to be successful Allison had to neutralize her like she would any other criminal.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Amy asked from the passenger side of Karma's Prius.

"We're just checking to see if they're the good guys. Then we can go home and binge watch "Kyle Xy"." The brunette replied not taking her eyes off of the road. She felt skeptical of the foursome since lunch, so they took a town car to Karma's and took her car back to the bank. They proceeded to follow the group once the van pulled away. Karma gave a "construction crew my ass" noting that nothing in that area needed to be built.

"Fine, but just because one of them seems to know Lauren's mom doesn't mean that they are evil. Allison helped us." Amy tried to reason with her girlfriend.

"It also means that there is more going on that we don't know. Since it's your mom's bank, we have a right to know." Karma replied. She made sure to stay three cars behind them. A niggling feeling told her that they knew they were being followed.

Skye made sure to turn into a parking garage next to the hotel. She was glad to find the second level empty. She parked the van and waited.

A red Prius parked next to the van. She smiled when she realized who it was.

"Hey Alli, your friends have been tailing us since we left the west side of the city." She said turning around in her seat. She laughed when she heard a loud scoff from Lydia and an "Oh bother" from Jemma.

"Is there a reason why you've been following us?" Allison asked as the group met at the back of the van.

Amy toed her shoe in response.

Karma refused to be scared. She looked right into the older woman's eyes and responded. "We know that you are not who you say you are. We also know that you know Mrs. Cooper, Allison. If that's even your real name."

Jemma and Skye looked from Allison to Karma in utter shock.

Lydia rolled her eyes at the younger brunette.

Amy moved closer to Karma. "I don't think it's a good idea to provoke them. I mean look at them. They're decked out in legit spy gear. I don't know about you, but it's like staring four black widows in the face." She whispered into the other girl's ear.

Karma stood her ground. "They may look tough, Aimes, but I think they are all black and no venom." She said loudly for the group to hear.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Jemma asked losing patience.

"That's what I'd like to know. It looks like your girl Allison hasn't been honest with, most of you." Karma replied making sure to look at Lydia when she ended her sentence.

"When I went to get Lydia, I ran into Kate." Allison said making both Skye and Jemma blanche.

"Did she recognize you?" Jemma asked.

"Of course she did." The archer replied guiltily.

"Allison deflected the attention off of herself and made Kate think that she wasn't her niece." Lydia added.

Skye looked at the pair. "Are you sure?" She asked. "The plan can go up in flames if Kate figures out who we are; more specifically who Allison really is."

"Great. Now they are talking in code." Amy said in Karma's direction.

"Wait. You mean to tell me that you are Kate's niece." Karma replied looking at the archer.

Allison nodded in response.

Lydia got defensive in that moment. "I think you should hop back in your Prius and forget this ever happened, sweetheart. This is bigger than your little prank. We are here to help."

Karma walked up to the genius. She was used to the Alpha bitch routine. It didn't faze her when Lauren did it and it definitely doesn't scare her now that Lydia is doing it.

"Listen, you four came into my girlfriend's mother's bank all mission impossible. So, sorry if we get a bit curious when things go wrong and complete strangers show up. I think we have a right to know what you're doing seeing as you are the good guys." Karma fumed.

Lydia clapped in response. "I think they can be trusted. How about you, Alli?"

"I think so. Skye, Jem? What do you think?"

"I'd say so." Jemma replied and Skye gave an approving nod in reply.

The group was sitting around Lydia and Allison's suite. The older women watched Karma and Amy as they both digested the information that was just given to them moments before.

Karma was fixated on a spiral pattern on the carpet.

Amy kept rubbing her wrists. She knew Kate would be after her mother, but she never knew that the older woman would go about things in such an evil way. The fact that the older blonde was Allison's Aunt made Amy feel sorry for the brunette. The archer was nice. Her Aunt seemed heartless. She looked up at Allison then and gave her a soft smile. It had to hurt to take down a missing relative that she thought was dead. Amy figured that if she were in Allison's shoes, that she would do the exact same thing.

"Can we help?" she asked gaining composure.

Jemma sipped on her tea.

Skye turned toward Lydia.

Lydia shifted in her seat and turned toward Allison.

As much talent as there was in that room, Allison realized that no one knew Kate better than she did. She took a deep breath, silently going over all of the ways that this mission could play out. Now that Amy and Karma wanted to help, she thought of a better way to do this.

Allison looked at the young blonde and smiled fondly seeing a bit of herself inside those blue eyes.

"Yes. You can both help. This is what we are going to do…."

Amy found it hard to sleep for the past two days. The plan wasn't hard, but it made her nervous about how things could go. She heaved a loud sigh, deciding to get out of bed. School shouldn't be that bad, but she still hoped that she could get this over with instead of feeling her gut twisting into knots.

She got ready for school, ate her mom's famous pancakes and gave her a kiss on the forehead before hopping into her Honda towards Karma's house. She smiled when her girlfriend ran out of her house with extra pep in her step.

"Hey baby!" Karma greeted her with a kiss on the lips after closing the passenger door.

"Hey. You ready?" Amy asked implying the plan that was supposed to happen after their school day.

Karma reached over and grabbed Amy's hand. "Of course, we get out of school early and get to lead a double life like badasses."

Amy steered the car down the street. "I know it's awesome! I'm just nervous."

"Don't be. Skye, Jemma, Allison and Lydia are all professionals. They do this thing all of the time. We'll be in great hands." Karma tried her best to reassure the other girl.

Karma and Amy went about their day. Before they knew it they were on their way to the bank.

They made sure to park near the back where Skye's van was parked.

Amy knocked lightly on the van waiting patiently for someone to open the door.

Karma gave her a questioning look when they've been noticeably standing there for five minutes.

"Is this the right van?" She asked Amy.

"Uh- yeah. I think so."

The back door flew open. Amy looked around, seeing nothing she started to walk forward.

"This is getting weird." She said as Karma decided to lead the way.

They got in the van. In an instant the door slammed behind them.

"Alright, we are patching up all of the accounts. Just another hour and those nice hardworking people will be reimbursed."

Amy and Karma both gave a sigh of relief. It was Skye's voice.

"We did it." Jemma's voice said happily.

Amy and Karma decided to give the older women a moment.

Jemma sat herself on her girlfriends lap.

"So, after this mission we will be running "The White Hats". It won't be the same without them." The strawberry blonde's body started to sag.

Skye rested her hands on Jemma's waste. "I know Jem, but it's their time to go. We'll keep in touch and before you know it, we'll be retired too."

"That is a unique way at looking at things. I love you."

Skye looked deep into Jemma's eyes. She could understand the other women's sorrow. Allison and Lydia are there friends. It seems foreign to go on without them, but as long as Jemma is by her side she knew they would do their best to continue to fight for their cause.

"I love you too." She replied cupping the biochemist's cheek, placing a deep kiss on her lips.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught the older women's attention, causing them to break apart.

"Hello Karma and Amy. Everything is going according to plan. We just finished finalizing everyone's account." She replied moving off of Skye's lap.

The hacker gave the teens a wave before turning back to her laptop.

Allison was patrolling the third floor when she saw Lydia being cornered by Kate.

"You know my niece don't you?" The older woman asked getting too close to the ginger.

Lydia winced. "I told you that she isn't your niece and if she were she wouldn't be too keen on you touching me."

"Really? Well then let's hope that she doesn't find out." Kate was about to smash her lips against the younger woman's, but a hand pulled her back.

"Looks like I already did. I believe sexual assault is forbidden in the workplace as well as anywhere else in society." Allison stated getting the blonde's attention. She pulled her radio out of pocket. "Eagle one we have a 1034 in progress. I repeat we have a 1034 in progress. We are on the third floor."

Kate gave a dark laugh. "You've got to be kidding me. Allison this isn't funny. I wasn't going to hurt her."

Allison pulled out her cuffs from her belt. "From where I'm standing Lydia looks very uncomfortable and your stance was predatory. It's my job to report you and take you in to see Mrs. Raudenfeld." She walked up to Kate in that moment and put the cuffs on her wrists. Kate tried to resist, but Allison was stronger.

The elevator door dinged. The sound of muffled footsteps stopped Kate's movements.

"If I were you Ms. Munn I wouldn't resist." Gregg looked a little disheveled, but pulled together. Allison noted how Kate relaxed at the young man's arrival. "No need to worry Allison. I'll take Carol to Ms. Raudenfeld's office immediately."

Lydia shook her head. Something wasn't right.

Allison looked from Lydia to Gregg. "I don't think that's company policy. Considering that Carol was about to sexual assault Ms. Martin here, it would be best for me to accompany you, Carol and Lydia to Ms. Raudenfeld's office."

Gregg pulled on his tie nervously. He looked like he was going to attack Allison, but thought better of it. "You are most definitely right. It would be best to have an eyewitness that was there as well as security." He replied beginning to briskly walk down the hallway toward the elevator.

Allison walked behind the group making sure to push Kate along. She also squeezed Lydia's hand in reassurance, receiving a half smile from the ginger.

The elevator ride was quiet.

Gregg kept pulling at his tie.

Kate struggled against her handcuffs.

Lydia held Allison's hand and Allison quietly sent a message to Jemma and Skye about Gregg.

When the elevator door dinged, Gregg tried to make a run for it only to run into Karma and Amy.

"Hey Gregg! You're looking kind of sweaty. I think my mom has medicine for that in her office!" Amy said loudly making sure to get her mother's attention.

The door to Ms. Raudenfeld's office opened. She smiled happily at her daughter's voice. It fell when she saw Kate in handcuffs, a sweaty Gregg that was being grabbed by both Karma and Amy and an unhappy looking Lydia.

"What's going on? Amy?" Amy's mother asked looking around the group.

"It's a long story. I think we need to get into your office ASAP."

"Well, alright."

"So, Carol who is actually Kate Cooper tried to wreck my bank from the inside out? Then she tried to assault Ms. Martin. Well, this is just awful. It looks like I have no other choice, but to call the police. Don't think you're getting off Scott free Gregg. It looks like you'll be getting a sell with Kate seeing as you were helping her." Ms. Raudenfeld finally spoke after Allison, Lydia, Karma and Amy went over their polished story. Of course they had to weed out how Allison and Lydia had to do with anything.

"Ma'am, may I get back to work? I don't want to leave the bank unprotected for too long." Allison asked.

"Of course. Don't go too far. I might need you incase these two try to run off."

Allison left the office. She quickly turned on her comm.

"We got em'. We just have to wait for the police. Judging by the sirens they should be here soon. Then we'll be free to go."

_"__Sounds awesome. You know where we'll be." Skye replied._

Allison smiled. This was it. They've been doing this for years and it was finally over.

A door slamming open caught Allison's attention. It was Gregg he tried running only to be flipped by Lydia.

"It would be so much better if you just accepted what you did. Stealing from hardworking honest people just because the business that you work for is failing, is not the way to go." She replied pressing her heal into his back.

"Why do you sound like such a white hat?" he asked angrily.

Lydia looked down the hallway toward Allison. "That's because I am one."

The police questioned everyone. They seemed to be wary of Karma and Amy's roll in all of this, but the girl's provided hard evidence that Kate and Gregg used false identities to go through with their plan. Without a second glance they were whisked away.

When the girl's and Ms. Raudenfeld were asked by the detectives to meet the heroes that took the two criminals down, they looked around only to find that they were gone.

A note was found on Ms. Raudenfeld's desk:

_We were glad to help. Sorry we couldn't say goodbye._

_-The White Hats _

Amy and Karma frantically ran downstairs to the back of the building. When they reached where Skye's van would've been the space was empty. All that was left was a piece of paper with something written all over it.

"Is that code?" Karma asked.

"Yeah. I think they want to tell us something." Amy replied.

Jemma and Skye parked in the airport parking lot.

"Now to say goodbye." Skye replied sadly.

Jemma pushed the other woman's chin up. "It's not a goodbye, love. It's a see you later. We'll see them soon."

Skye nodded.

They got out of the van in time to catch Lydia and Allison parking next to them.

"So, this is it then." Allison started she rocked back and forth on her heels.

Lydia put her arm around Allison's waist. "You guys will be fine. The white hats will continue all of our work. When you guys are ready, come find us."

Skye smiled. "I'll miss you. Don't be surprised if I hack into your system sometime soon."

"I'll be counting on it." Allison replied hugging the hacker.

Jemma's face was wet with silent tears.

"Hey, hey, none of that." Lydia said walking up to Jemma. "If you ever need us, we'll be here. Just because we are retiring, it doesn't mean that we stop being friends."

"Ugh, I'm a blubbering mess." Jemma replied whipping tears from her cheeks. "I'll be sure to keep in touch. We'll look out for Karma and Amy while you are gone." Jemma wrapped Lydia in an embrace.

"What happened to Karma and Amy?" Allison asked.

"Right now they should be receiving a gift." Skye replied.

"You didn't. They are too young for this life Skye." Lydia said.

"Relax Lydia. It's an early invitation. Until they are 18, they can assist us since we've decided to settle in town." Jemma replied.

Allison looked at her watch and frowned. "It looks like we have to go."

The group gave each other before going their separate ways.

"Let's go my super awesome genius girlfriend. I believe we have an apartment to go buy." Skye said leading Jemma back to the van.

"Whatever you say my fit hacker girlfriend." Jemma replied placing a kiss on Skye's lips.

Allison and Lydia cleared their gate. They were just waiting to board.

"We get our happy ending." Lydia said playing with Allison's fingers.

"Yeah, we do." The archer replies.

"I wanted to hurt Kate." Allison quirked her eyebrows in confusion. "When Kate tried to force herself on me. I wanted to hurt her."

"It's okay to feel that way Lyds. When I saw her holding you I wanted to kill her. That woman is not my Aunt. Like I said before my Aunt died years ago." Allison kissed Lydia's knuckles. "I will never let anyone hurt you."

"I love you, Allison Argent."

"I love you, Lydia Martin."

_"__Now boarding flight 467 to Fiji." _

"Let's start our new life together." Lydia said standing up and taking Allison's hand. She gave the older girl a kiss on the lips before entering the plane.

Amy and Karma spent all night on the blonde's computer trying to crack the code. By the time Amy finished deciphering the code, she heard birds chirping and saw that the sun was about to rise. She pressed enter and fist pumped when she saw the code change. An access code box appeared. She didn't want to wake Karma, but she needed help.

"Hey, baby. I deciphered the code. I just need the access code."

Karma rubbed at her face. Amy thought it was adorable.

"Maybe it's a name. Try Skye." Karma replied yawing into her hand as she sat up in her chair.

Amy typed in the name. She held her breathe not wanting to get it wrong seeing as they got so far. She looked over to the brunette for reassurance before pressing enter.

The screen went black.

Karma sighed angrily.

Amy just stared at the blank space hoping for something to pop up.

Then an image made its way on screen. Karma turned toward the monitor.

Skye's face and voice sounded on the screen as a video version of the other girl started to talk.

"If you're seeing this then it means that you my friend or friends are part of the chosen few. Me and Jemma here…. Don't be shy come here." Skye pulled Jemma into the shot. "Are starting up a new group. As most of you know we used to be the rising tide, but our leaders have moved on. So, now we are calling ourselves… drum roll please. "

Jemma gave a mock drum roll and laughed.

"The White Hats. It's totally cliché, but it makes sense. We'll be carrying on with the business of helping people that cannot help themselves and putting criminals in jail. For some of you youngsters we have to put you on hold until you turn 18. Until then, you can help, but only if we contact you first. Yes Karma and Amy we mean you. Once again, welcome to the White Hats. We'll be in touch."

The screen goes black. Then the light flickers back on to show Amy's wallpaper.

"Oh my god!" Amy screeched excitedly.

"We're gonna be heroes!" Karma replied.


End file.
